Terming it as a political conspiracy, Tejaswi vowed to challenge the verdict in the higher court and electorally too.

"We will appeal in higher courts, we have faith in the legal system," Tejaswi Yadav said.

"We will also go to the court of the people. The powers conspiring against us to trap our leader will get a fitting reply in the coming elections," Tejaswi Yadav said.

Party leader Raghuvansh Prasad called the legal fight a "political battle".

"We are preparing to file for bail. This is not just a legal battle, this is a political battle. All those who were against us have come together to trap us," Raghuvansh Prasad said.

He alleged that the popular view against the ordinance which seeks to reverse the Supreme Court judgment on convicted politicians was meant to trap Lalu Prasad.

"In the all-party meeting, it was decided that the Supreme Court judgment on convicted lawmakers will be reversed. But when JD-U (Janata Dal-United) and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) saw that Lalu Yadav is getting convicted, they changed their mind," Raghuvansh Prasad told a TV news channel.

Asked if he felt that the Congress had abandoned his party, Raghuvansh Prasad replied: "When was the Congress with us? We were with them just to fight communal forces."

The multi-million animal husbandry department scam, popularly known as the fodder scam, accuses Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra, both former chief ministers of Bihar, and ministers from the department, two IAS officials and others of fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.70 crore from Chaibasa district treasury of Jharkhand. After the division of Bihar, the district is now in Jharkhand.
Special CBI Judge PK Singh pronounced the judgment.